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Fifth Sunday Of Easter

Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series IV, Cycle A
Hymns
In You, Lord, I Have Put My Trust (PH183)
Christ Is Made The Sure Foundation (NCH400, UM559, PH416, 417)
Christ Is Our Cornerstone (CBH43)
Come, O Spirit, Dwell Among Us (PH129)
O Jesus, I Have Promised
(NCH493)
Here, O God, Your Servants Gather
(NCH72, CHB7, PH465)
Halleluiah! What A Savior
(UM165)
Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life
(NCH331)

Anthems
Step By Step, Worship And Praise, 132
When Stephen Full Of Power And Grace, Richard Peck, H. W. Gray, SATB
Dear Lord, Lead Me Day By Day, Jane Marshall, Unison
Celebrate The Good News, Tom Mitchell, CGA, 2--part

Call to Worship
Leader:
You are a chosen race,
Men:A royal priesthood,
Women:A holy nation
All:God's own people,
Leader:In order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness
People:Into his marvelous light.
Leader:Once you were not a people,
People:But now we are God's people;
Leader:Once you had not received mercy,
People:But now we have received mercy.
All:Let us worship God.

Call to Confession
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Let us bring our confessions before the God who loves us. Let us pray.

Prayer of Confession
Wonderful God, we come to you today confessing our confusion over your word. We don't read the Bible very often, and we know we should. It offers us insight into what you would have us do in our everyday living. But sometimes the scripture passages are very difficult, and other times they are confusing. We read them and say, "What does this have to do with life in the twenty--first century?" or, "I just don't believe that Jesus meant to say that." Help us, God, to continue to find great meaning in this Holy Book. Forgive our doubts. Open our ears to hear what you would have us hear. Give us new confidence that you are talking to us through this ancient book. Help us to hear the stories with new energy, seeking wisdom in its pages. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news! Jesus came to save us from our sins. What a great gift we have been given. Alleluia! Amen.

Scripture Readings
1 Peter 2:2--10: Have a choral speaking choir say this 1 Peter passage. Have each member of the choir hold a stone about the size of a fist. As they read the passage have members place a stone on the altar or communion table during the reading of verses 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - every time the word "stone" is mentioned. The stones could be flat so that they could be placed like an "Ebenezer," or if they are more round, just placed together. The rest of the decorations might include a larger rock (perhaps one of the lightweight, fake rocks about two feet tall), flowers, and a small church.

John 14:1--14: This passage is a discussion between Jesus and his followers. Three members of the choral speaking choir might step forward from the rest and have this conversation. It would be important that they memorize their lines. The speakers would be Jesus, Thomas, and Philip. Leave out the phrases "Jesus said to him," "Thomas said to him," and so on.

Call to Offering
God is our rock of refuge and our strong fortress. May our offering today help those around the world who need refuge and a strong fortress to protect them from war, hunger, and homelessness. The ushers will wait upon us for the morning offering.

Litany of Dedication
Leader:God is our rock
People:And our salvation.
Leader:Whom shall we fear?
People:Our fear is in our God, who has given us many blessings.
Leader:We offer these gifts to you, God. May they help others to know you, and find help in times of struggle.
People:We use these gifts in your name, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Benediction
Leader:The church's foundation is built upon God, the cornerstone.
People:We offer ourselves as a foundation of living stones.
Leader:Through your faith others can lean on you and begin their own faith journey.
People:Make us a cornerstone of faith. Christ is our cornerstone.
Leader.Have faith. Believe. Amen.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 16 | OT 21 | Pentecost 11
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 17 | OT 22 | Pentecost 12
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 18 | OT 23 | Pentecost 13
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

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When one of our children was young, she pretended to throw something at me from close range, and then she cheerfully declared, “Ha! Made you flinch!” I remember from my own elementary years that that was always regarded as something of an achievement — to make someone blink or to make someone flinch. In reality, of course, it is little more than a test of one’s reflexes. It’s my reflex to blink or to brace when I think something is coming at me, and the reflex is a good one.
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John E. Sumwalt
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (v. 2)

CSSPlus

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Object: This is a role play activity for the children. You will want a container of some kind of treat to give to all of the children.

Note: This is a fairly brief message as presented, but that may help keep an emphasis on the simplicity of the message if you stress it.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s get started.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
Jesus knew the importance of humility and used a banquet to teach people about it. As we feast on him today, let us make sure we come to him with unassuming spirits.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we are unaware of our own arrogance.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we spot other people's haughtiness but fail to recognise it in ourselves.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we are so humble that we become victims of inverted pride.
Lord, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Stephen P. McCutchan
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
-- Hebrews 13:1-2

James Evans
The writer of Psalm 81 employs a most interesting mixed metaphor. It is not mixed, however, because the psalmist was careless and neglected his subject matter. On the contrary, it is because of an important insight into human nature that the psalmist has us "eating with our ears."

Verse 10 rehearses what was, and is, the most basic confession of faith for followers of the Lord. God speaks and says, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth and I will fill it."

Ron Lavin
There are three words I hope you will take home from church today. The words are "Only The Lonely." As you think about these words, the assurances of God's Word will comfort and strengthen you. But I'm getting ahead of my story. Before we get to these three words, we need to look at the full text of Luke 14:1, 7-14. That involves looking at three other words: humility, hospitality, and hope.

Humility
Chrysanne Timm
It is never a pleasant prospect to deal with someone who has a complaint with you. As a new pastor, and a very young one at that, one of the things I struggled with most was the experience of conflict with members. I remember as if it were yesterday a significant misunderstanding that developed between the congregation's "matriarch" and me very early in my time there. I prayed about the difficulty we were having, and I knew that I needed to go to her home and ask for the opportunity to talk things out.
H. Burnham Kirkland
Words Of Assurance
In this be confident: that the grace of God is active enough to forgive, and the love of God is powerful enough to transform.

Pastoral Prayer

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